Sorry I'm so behind. We have a second missionary group here from California and it is hard to connect to the wireless so this is the first time I have had connection in a while. I am going to jump back to
Thursday, August 6th
Today was exciting for the little fashionista in me. We had spent the previous night sorting clothes into boys/girls, type of clothing piece, and general sizes. We had quite the system going!
We traveled to Orphanage 46 early this morning where we saw similar sights as we had seen in previous days during our travel. Today, we were astonished that beyond not having any noticeable road rules (NONE!) there was a brave man who was working in the middle of the street with no protection! With no road lines, speed limits, or signs whatsoever, it was wild for us to imagine anyone. Who would dare work in the middle of the chaos.
When we got to Orphanage 46, we only dropped off Donnie and Donna and the Haitian workers. The rest of us went to Ryan Epps. Wait no...rewind to Dana and Beth and Butch ( with a u) going in a different direction that morning. They left Villa Mamika to order pillows. They now describe that process by saying:
1. Stuck in traffic
2. We saw Jesus, literally...on a wall
3. Lots of guns at every store to protect merchandise
4. And a Mack truck encounter that you will just have to ask them about
Now, where was I.....the rest of us Ryan Epped. We simply viewed their metal artwork, which is beautiful by the way. Carrie and Matt handed about twenty requests for special artwork that they will certainly master. As we looked around at Ryan Epps, the children were there, but we noticed an empty feeling that was not present last year. No child greeted us, however we saw their peering eyes staring at us from their dining hall. We left feeling a little disheartened.
When we returned to Orphanage 46, our new friends greeted us at the door. We reunited and it felt so good to hug and love on these kids again. I'm aware that I am getting too attached, but I simply cannot help it. I have so much genuine love for these kids. We immediately started pumping up "balloons" as they called them or beach balls and soccer balls by our standards. They were overjoyed and Tom got some great footage of the boys kicking the soccer balls around.
The next task was to help the girls try on clothes. We sprawled the clothes across a large table and brought two girls into the room at a time so we could help them pick out two outfits of their choice. They were so cute! They would run into the room and wait patiently until they excitedly pointed out shirts and pants they liked. I don't know who had more fun, though. All of us had fun trying to match the right shirt with the right girl. They were so happy when we found the perfect shirt or pants. We LOVED watching the girls try on the made dresses from FUMC. As soon as the ribbons tightened, they would twirl and smile and look down at all the magnificent colors. They were just perfect!
After lunch, the boys tried on their new clothes. We mused that the boys were more stylish than the girls. Some of the little boys would run into the room already half undressed in preparation to try on new clothes. We would hold up a shirt and say "oui" or "non" and do this until they found the perfect size, fit, or Star Wars graphic.
After a long day of "shopping" we packed everything away and we almost immediately loaded up. It was hard saying goodbye again, but we gave our final hugs and we were on our way.
Photos
